About CELSTEC

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The Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies (CELSTEC) is a Centre of Excellence in the fields of Learning Sciences and Technology Enhanced Learning.

CELSTEC aims to research, develop and provide sustainable and evidence-based solutions for the advancement of learning at work, at school, at home and on the move.

This is accomplished by combining state-of-the-art research in the Learning Sciences with the innovative powers of new media, mobile devices and the Internet.

New solutions are extensively tested in our laboratories and in real practice, following the principles of open innovation.

With the portfolio of our activities we are able to help our partners to innovate and improve their education, training and professional development system in all essential aspects.

Rob Koper, Dean of CELSTEC

Under its former Dutch name, OTEC (Onderwijstechnologisch Expertise Centrum), the institute gained worldwide recognition as a successful centre for research and innovation in the field. In 2008 CELSTEC’s research programmes received the highest average score from all educational research programmes in the Netherlands. The  history of the institute goes back to the early 1980's.

Open Content, Open Source

CELSTEC follows a strategy to provide our work to the public with open source or creative commons licenses. The outcomes of our work are freely accessible at our dspace server.

CELSTEC's Activities

CELSTEC's activities are concentrated in three Programmes and an Institute for Education & Training. Each of the three programmes contains a combination of research projects, open laboratory projects, training activities and the provision of solutions to the market and to the Open University of the Netherlands. The tight integration of research, practice, experimentation and training in collaboration with partners establishes a process of open innovation in the field of learning and professional development.

These are the aims of the three Programmes and the institute for Education & Training:

Learning and Cognition

This programme aims to improve education & training at schools and in companies. It contains three themes in which its projects are executed:

  • learning tasks;
  • learning environments;
  • learning assessments.  

Learning Networks for Professionals

This programme aims to improve the continuous development of professionals in companies, sectors, countries and regions. It contains three themes in which its projects are executed:

  • better professional development;
  • online services to support learning networks;
  • effective professional communities.

Learning Media

This programme aims to improve the learning experiences at home, at work and on the move, using new learning media and devices. It contains three themes in which its projects are executed:

  • immersive media;
  • mobile media;
  • social media.  

Institute for Education & Training

The knowledge gained in all our activities is the basis for our education and training activities, for example in the Scientific Master Programme in the Learning Sciences and the organisation of numerous events and training for professionals in the fields of learning sciences and technology enhanced learning. CELSTEC's institute for Education & Training co-ordinates these activities.

Organisation of CELSTEC

CELSTEC is a research institute of the Open Universiteit Nederland. CELSTEC employs over a 100 FTE professionals (mainly professors, employed Ph.D. students and Media Specialists) from over 15 different countries. It collaborates actively with hundreds of different professionals in various countries, companies, agencies, schools and universities. Together the staff and network represents many years of experience in research and innovation.

The management of CELSTEC is formed by:

  • prof. dr. Rob Koper (Dean)
  • prof. dr. Paul Kirschner (Programme Director of the Learning and Cognition programme)
  • prof. dr. Peter Sloep (Programme Director of the Learning Networks programme)
  • dr. Wim Westera (Programme Director of the Learning Media programme)
  • prof. dr. Els Boshuizen (Director of the Education & Training Institute)
  • dr. Jo Boon (Human Resource Manager)
  • mr. Jos van den Broek (Director of Operations)